


When The Bromance Went Horribly Wrong

by PoseidonsUnderpants



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Naughty Things Mentioned, Teen Pregnancy, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-18 04:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2334758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoseidonsUnderpants/pseuds/PoseidonsUnderpants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Piper and Percy became best bros after the war. Then, at one sleep over in Cabin Three, Percy has the bright idea to buy wine from Pollux. Things just deteriorate from then on really...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic on this site, and with this pairing. I know it's not popular, but I always had a soft spot for it, so I'm gonna be a good girl and compromise. They won't actually become a pair, but it centres around them, cool? :)

PROLOGUE

 

Piper grinned at Jason and leant up to give him another peck on the lips.

  
"Love you. See ya in the morning. If you need me, I'll be next door, 'Kay?"

  
They had be saying the 'L' word since the end of the war, and it never got old to Piper. He smiled.

  
"Should I be worried that you spend more time over in Percy's Cabin than mine?"

  
"Shut up. Leo's sleeping round your's, you see me complaining?"

  
He just rolled his eyes.

  
"Night, night, Beauty Queen. And behave. I haven't forgotten what happened last time, you know."

  
She gave him an innocent look. He may or may not be referring to last week when she and Percy had egged the Hermes Cabin in the dead of night, for revenge of a prank Travis and Connor had pulled on two of Piper's sisters. Only Jason knew it was them, and he had kept the secret only because it was karma.

  
She tugged on the straps of her overnight bag. It had in it all sleep-over essentials, such as pyjamas and a toothbrush and sweets and her knife. You can never be to careful as a demi-god, a lesson they had all learnt from experience. Even though she would be with the most skilled swordsman of the century, she couldn't help be feel slightly paranoid. It had been a year since Gaia went to sleep and she still had a problem with not being able to see everything around her.

  
She waved at Jason, then turned to the left and cut across the grass to the Poseidon Cabin. She always felt calm looking at the simplicity of the low grey walls and smelling the salty air and feeling the soft breeze that constantly surrounded it, compared to the mayhem of the Aphrodite Cabin. Not that she's admit it to Percy, of course.

  
She knocked twice, giving Percy warning to know she was there, before kicking the door open. This was routine since she had walked in on Percy doing something that neither of them shall never mention ever again. Ever.

  
He was sprawled on his double bed in the way only a boy can sprawl, though she could give him a run for his money. You may be wondering what happened to Percy's bunk, and the answer to that is that saving the world twice has it's perks.

"Hey. You got any food?"

Always to the point, isn't he?    

"As a matter of fact I do, but I will not give any to you yet because you had marshmallow's not ten minutes ago, you pig."

  
"You had marshmallow's too, you filthy hypocrite!"

  
She rolled her eyes, dropped her bag against the wall and kicked her shoes off. She sat on the bed next to Percy and jabbed him in the side. He yelped and she smirked.

  
"Actually, I didn't, you imbecile. I'm vegetarian, remember? Marshmallow's have gelatine in them, Kelp-For-Brains."

  
He groaned. "Why am I friends with you? Girl, you nasty."

  
She grinned and rolled so she laid on top of him, facing up at the white ceiling. "You know you love me."

  
"Meh. You're alright. Now get your fat arse off me, gods dammit."

  
That was their friendship in a nutshell. There is nothing more that needs to be said. Gods, she was happy to have someone like Percy in her life: he kept her young. It's hard to feel that way after what they'd been through.

  
"Awwww, but you're soooo comfy. I could stay here allllllll nightttttttt."

  
He had obviously had enough, and shoved her to his side. The side where the bed ended, and she fell onto the floor, landing on her front with a grunt.

  
"You meanie! I think I'll go. I can tell when I'm not wanted!" She huffed playfully.

  
"But Piperrrrrr! Guess what? I got you a present!"

  
She sat up immediately. "What? Where! Gimme it now!"

  
Percy laughed and reached under the bed with both hands, using the weight of his legs as leverage.

After groping around for a moment, he pulled out two big bottles of Dionysus's fines red wine. She gasped.

  
"Percy! How did you get them? And why didn't you mention them before?"

  
He smiled secretively, placing the wine on the bedside table carefully, then pulled her up onto the bed, not caring to be gentle.

  
"Pollux was feeling generous, he let me buy one and get the other one free. Wanna get shit faced?"

  
Now, before you start telling them off for being irresponsible, remember that Percy was now almost eighteen, and she was sixteen and a half. They figured it was about time they tried alcohol, and they wanted to do it with people who understood what random bullshit they might blurt out, not with some mortal at a party where monsters might be lurking, ready to take advantage of a demigod under the influence. Percy had said that Mr. D had mentioned once that it took more alcohol to get a half blood drunk, so they figured it would take a whole bottle each. They had just been waiting for Pollux to get some stock in.

  
"Hades yes I do! Let's get this party started!"

  
So, over the next two hours, Piper and Percy ate sweets, had tickle fights, bantered relentlessly and, of course, drank more than their fair share of wine. They had been playing Any Three Questions, a game Piper played with her dad and had told Percy about, when everything started going wrong.

  
"How far have you gone?"

Piper slurred for her last question.

  
Percy groaned and took a swig of his mostly-empty bottle. "Kissing. Touching. Not far enough. I know it sounds dicky but Annabeth just doesn't want to do anything! You?"

  
She groaned too.

"Jason's so bloody Roman, I swear to the Gods. He wouldn't even consider doing anything 'irresponsible' until we're both of age. I've done just as much, or little, as you. I feel your pain, homie."

  
That is what she meant to say, at least. She's not too sure it was all that fluent. Percy seemed to have understood, though, because suddenly he had a determined look on his face.

  
"Down it," he commanded, finishing the rest of his wine. She did too, because why the fuck not?

  
"I am gonna fuck you so hard, you'll forget all about Jason and his rule following ways."

  
Now, if he, or anyone, even Jason, had talked to her like that when she was sober, she would have slapped them into next week. But right now, in the dim, salt-smelling cabin, it sounded like the best idea in the world.

  
Her alcohol-clouded brain made her nodded her head rapidly, and then Percy surged forward and kissed her passionately.

  
She's not proud of what they did, but it happened anyway. And she sure as hell got her karma for it.


	2. The Day After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper's reaction and trying to act natural.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is longer than I expected, but I had to set up a lot of stuff for later on. I don't think they'll all be this long though. Enjoy, hopefully!

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

The first thought to come into Piper's head was: hangovers suck.

  
The next one, which probably should've been top priority, is: WHAT THE FUCK WHY AM I NAKED WHERE ARE MY PYJAMAS AGH I'M GONNA PUKE.

  
So she rolled off the bed in a mass of covers, then stumbled to the bathroom as naked as the day she was born, and threw up into the toilet. Lovely.

  
She heard a groan from the main room, and she really really really didn't want to go in there, in fear of her suspicions coming true.

  
So she went to the sink, turned on the tap and wiped her face and mouth with cool water. She blindly wiped her face with a towel, then got all her courage together and looked in the mirror.

  
Shit.

  
She had bruises everywhere. Hickey's on her neck and collarbone, finger prints on her shoulders and breasts and fucking fuck shit she was screwed.

  
Despite her roaring headache, it was clear to her that she and Percy had gotten drunk off their arse's and had sex. Joy.

  
What the heck would Jason say? And Annabeth? And the Gods and the rest of the seven and she may be having a slight panic attack right now.

  
Wait. Who says they need to know? It'll just be her and Percy's deep dark secret that doesn't need to be told. She knew it was wrong to keep important stuff from her friends, but seriously? They definitely didn't want to hear this. Things had just gotten good again after the war, it would suck if they messed shit up again.

  
She took a deep breath, then walked into the main room. Percy was doing up his jeans from last night. He was just as bruised as she was, and she noticed scratches on his back, that were starting to scab. Oops.

  
He glanced up at her, then blushed furiously at her lack of clothing. She silently walked past him and reached into her overnight bag, getting out new underwear and pulling it on as quickly as she could. She then looked round for her Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and ripped three-quarter-length shorts. She found them on opposite ends of the room, something she decided not to comment on.  
Once they were both done, they just stared at nothing, stealing awkward looks at each other and trying not to catch each other's eyes.

  
Finally, it got too much for Piper. The elephant in the room was jumping up and down (can elephants jump?) and making loud elephant noises at them.

  
"Sit." There was charmspeak in her voice and she found herself not giving a damn.

  
Percy sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands that were in his lap.

  
She sat down next to him, but subconsciously sat a bit further away from him than she usually would.

"We are never mentioning this ever. Got it?" Again with the charmspeak.

  
He nodded, "got it. And I am so sorry."

  
"Me too."

  
He looked up at her. His eyes were so sad, like someone had died. She's pretty sure her's looked the same.

  
She sighed, then got up and walked over to her bag, hefting it over one shoulder. She gave Percy a small wave, which he returned.

  
She left the cabin. It was still very early, the sun was still rising.

Instead of going back to her cabin, she set off to the lake. She walked down to the edge of the dock used for the Argo II. She sat down and pulled her shoes off, then put them into the water, kicking her legs backwards and forwards. It probably wasn't the best idea putting her feet into the realm of a God that probably hates her, but obviously she wasn't very good at making choices right now.

  
She didn't realise she was crying until the conch sounding for breakfast sounded. She was starving, and in dire need of a drink of water, but she didn't want to go. She couldn't decide who she wanted to see less, Percy or Jason or Annabeth.

  
'Pull yourself together,' she thought, 'what's done is done and there's nothing you can do about it, so just get a fucking grip.'

  
The voice in her head sounded a lot like Coach Hedge, which was more than a little disturbing.

  
Her cabin needed her. One helluva Head Counsellor, she knows, but she couldn't just ignore them. She shoved her feet into her trainers, not caring that they were still wet, and rummaged through her bag. Yep, there it was, ambrosia. She took two cubes, not bothers that it was a dangerous amount, and hoped that her hickey's and bruises faded by the time she got back to Cabin Ten. Her siblings were kind of vigilant when it came to that sort of stuff, considering her mum was the Goddess of Sex.

  
Wow. How had she just realised that? She definitely knew who to blame for this mess. Aphrodite and Dionysus and The Fates and maybe themselves. But only a little.

  
Everyone in her cabin was all ready for breakfast. Mitchell smiled at her when she came into the door.

  
"How was the sleepover?"

  
"Horrible. We tried alcohol."

Hey, she wasn't lying.

  
Everyone laughed and then proceeded to make fun of her bed head. Ah, what they don't know won't kill them, right?

  
She grabbed her sunglasses from her bedside table, partly because the sun was way to fucking bright, partly because she doesn't want people looking at her.

  
Lacy grinned her brace-filled grin, making a joke about Piper's hangover. Piper glared at her, but considering her sunglasses, it went unnoticed.

  
"If anyone makes one more joke about my delicate condition right now, I'll give them rubbish duty for a week. And yes, I'm not joking."

  
Drew let out an 'oooooh', everyone else snickered but kept quite.

  
Piper lead her cabin down to the Mess Hall, not caring that they were late. Jason smiled at her, and her stomach twisted in guilt. She forced a smile back at him, then sat down next to Mitchell and Ellen, a blonde sister of hers that she got on very well with.

  
She got her breakfast, then stood up again and walked to the hearth. She said "hi" to Hestia, something Percy had told her to do, and teared a bit of her croissant off to her mum, thinking 'you better not fuck shit up for me anymore,' then started devouring the rest of the croissant. Mitchell made a repulsed face at her manners, and she stuck her food-covered tongue at him. He made a gagging noise and turned to stare at Will Solace of the Apollo Cabin, who happened to be his latest crush.

  
"You're pinning."

  
"Go away."

  
"Just ask him out."

  
"Great advice there, Pipes. Worthy of the Head Counsellor of the Aphrodite Cabin, I'm sure."

  
"Don't provoke me. And you'll never know until you try."

  
"Oh go drink some more water. I don't like you hungover. And he probably isn't into guys."

  
She snorts despite herself.

"His dad is the poster boy of bisexuality, Mitch. Ask him out before I do it for you. And I will be loud about it."

  
He groaned, "fine, fine. Don't get your knickers into a twist. I'll do it during archery, okay?"

  
She grinned. Maybe she can make up for the terrible thing she did last night. That's what she tells herself, anyway.

  
Five glasses of water later, she feels a lot more optimistic about her life. Maybe she and Percy could still be friends.

  
She felt arms wrap around around her shoulders, and she tensed by accident.

  
"Hey! How was the sleepover?"

  
Oh gods. No. Not her. Oh my gods. Breath, just breath.

  
"Hi, Annabeth. It was good, thanks. You okay?"

  
Did she sound any different? Was her mind playing tricks on her? How the Hades was she going to keep a secret this big from the smartest demigod there is?

  
"That's cool. I'm a lot better than you guys, judging by the hangovers you have."

  
"Don't even start. I'm never drinking ever again."

  
Annabeth laughed. "Aww, diddums. I am going to take the mick of you guys all day!"

  
"No!" She moaned.

  
Annabeth grinned and walked over to the Hephaestus table, where Leo and Calypso were currently having a face battle. Leo had got her back last winter, and you could practically feel the love radiating from them. Piper had made sure no-one in her cabin tried to mess them up, she couldn't handle seeing Leo upset again. Despite all their teasing, she really loved that boy.

  
They had arts and crafts with the Demeter cabin first. She told her siblings to go on ahead, and she headed back to her cabin for a shower.

  
She undid any little plaits in her hair, then brushed it through. She had shaved a bit at the side off after a close call with Leo's fire, and she had decided not to grow it out again.

  
She stepped into the shower which was a little too hot to be pleasant, she stood there for about ten minutes considering the meaning of life and shit, before cleaning her hair and body with lemon-smelling products. She loved the smell of lemons.

She kept on the same underwear as she had put on this morning, but found a new Camp Half-Blood vest top and blue jeggings to wear. She did her hair back into a ponytail, not bothering to do anything fancy, then went back to join her brothers and sisters for the last half of arts and crafts.

  
Nobody commented on her lateness, they just didn't care. This is why she preferred Camp here rather than at the Roman side. She would've gotten told off for setting a bad example there. Jason and Frank and Hazel spent summers at Camp Half-Blood and the rest of the year at Camp Jupiter.

  
She helped Katie Gardner finish her clay Pegasus, but the wings kept falling off. They ended up just laughing and chatting and whining about Travis Stoll. That last part was done by Katie and Piper couldn't help but notice the way she couldn't stop talking about him.

  
By the end of the class, she had almost forgotten that something was wrong in her imperfect life.

  
They had archery next with the Apollo Cabin. Piper had given up on archery long ago, but she loved watching the skill of the archers. Will and Kayla were the best, in her opinion, but it was a close call.  
She asked Will if he could help Mitchell out with his stance, which he agreed to enthusiastically. She smirked to herself. See, she was the queen of subtly.

  
At the end of it, Mitch was trying and failing to hide a grin. She wrapped an arm over his shoulders.

  
"Hey, Mitch. How's it going?"

  
"Good. It's going very good."

  
"Oh, that's cool. Are you free tonight at the campfire, I'd love to hang?"

  
"Hmm, well, you see, Pipes. I would if I could, it's just I HAVE A DATE WITH WILL FUCKING SOLACE THIS IS AMAZING I'M GONNA GO SACRIFICE TO MUM BYE!"

  
He ran of, getting some strange looks from other campers but not caring. Her siblings all cheered: crushes aren't secret in their cabin, and she shook her head and smiled.

  
"What's next, sis?" Ellen asked.

  
"Sword fighting with Poseidon, Zeus and Hades." Lacy answered for her.

  
Crap. She was with Percy and Jason next. She'd just talk to Hazel. They had become great friends since The Prophecy, and when Hazel taught her how to fight. Nico had come into camp for the month, and she could tell something was bothering him, love wise. Hmm, maybe it was his crush on Annabeth. She frowned as she thought that. It never sounded quite right.

  
"Fine. Let's go."

  
She's pretty sure she left Katoptris at Percy's and there is no way she's going to go get it. She'll just borrow one.

  
Jason and Hazel and Nico were already there. It may seem like a lot of people for one class, but most of her siblings sat out. Only her, Ellen, and Mitchell tried to fight, and Mitchell was off burning gods know what for our mum. Percy wasn't there, which she was thankful for.

  
Jason gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. Hazel hugged her and Nico nodded, which was the best she would get.

  
"Well, seeing as our official teacher isn't here, shall we mill around for a bit?" Jason smiled.

  
Piper rolled her eyes, which he couldn't see because she still had her sunglasses on. "He's probably still hung over like me."

  
Jason groaned. "So you really did drink, did you?"

  
She nodded. Nico snickered.

  
"I can't imagine a child of Poseidon getting dehydrated for long."

  
"Good point. He's probably just being lazy." Jason laughed.

  
She nodded again. That is a useful power to have. Maybe she could talk to her brain to stop the slight throbbing that she was still feeling.

  
She started chatting with Hazel, about nothing in particular, trying not to ignore Jason but not talk to him much either. She tried to include Nico, and she discovered that he had a sarcastic sense of humour that put her into fits of laughter.

  
He frowned. "Are you taking the piss?"

  
"Language." Hazel scolded.

  
"No- it's just- you're really funny! You should talk more, Neeks."

  
"Don't call me that."

He frowned, but using her Magical Emotion Reading Powers, she figured out he was quite pleased.

  
Jason smiled and wrapped his arm round her waist. He was very protective of Nico, and had adopted him as a younger brother since the war, when Nico saved Reyna's life and both the camps from civil war.

  
"'Sup guys. Sorry I'm late, you left this in my cabin."

Percy had arrived. He was holding Katoptris out to her grip-first.

  
"Thanks."

Awkward. She took the knife and hooked the hilt onto her belt.

  
"Hey man. I haven't seen you all day! You as hungover as Pipes?"

Jason releases Piper and put an arm over Percy, who looked like he was about to die.

  
"Don't remind me. It's mostly gone now, though."

  
"Well you took your time. Are you gonna teach us or what?"

Nico has turned back into his usual arsehole self, then.

  
Percy rolled his eyes.

"As if you need me to teach you to train, Nico. I can only just beat you when we spar."

  
Nico huffed and unsheathed his Stygian Iron sword.

"I think you mean I beat you?"

  
"You wanna go?"

  
"Hey! I asked to spar with you yesterday, Perce."

Jason intervened.

  
"Oh. Yeah. Okay then."

Percy was surprisingly reluctant to fight Jason. Gosh, I wonder why.

  
"I'm with Piper!"

Hazel yelled a bit too loudly.

  
"I guess you'll have to be with me, Nico."

Ellen joined the conversation, flipping her blonde ponytail over her shoulder, and she fluttered her big brown eyes. Piper loved Ellen dearly, but she was a hopeless flirt. She had been crushing on Nico and his dark bad-boy thing about him all summer. It was pretty hilarious, really, imagining Nico in a romantic relationship.

  
"Okay. But I won't go easy on you just 'cos you're a girl."

  
"Fine."

  
They all separated into their pairs, and spared the rest of the lesson. Hazel beat Piper most of the time, but she won a couple of rounds and had a good time.

  
At the end, Lacy handed out ambrosia cubes. When she got to Piper, she declined.

  
"How come? That's quite a deep cut on your arm their, Pipes."

  
"I already had some today."

  
"Why?"

Jason asked.

  
Piper blushed.

"Hangover. It didn't really help so I had two."

  
"Same."

Percy said, not meeting her eye.

  
"That's what you get for being idiots."

Lacy said, then handed one to Nico.

  
If only she knew.

  
The rest of the day was a blur. She found herself talking to Nico more, in an attempt to avoid Percy and Annabeth.

  
At dinner, the seven, Nico and Calypso all sat at the Zeus table. They were allowed to sit where they wanted for dinner now the rules changed. Also, you were allowed to be alone in a cabin with a member of the opposite gender after Mr. D got sick of walking in on couples snogging. She was happy about that rule at first, having a boyfriend in a cabin by himself most of the time, but now she wished it had never been revoked.  
She had a mini food-fight with Leo which ended when Frank got a grape to the forehead.

  
She noticed that Percy was talking a lot with Nico, something that both Nico and Annabeth looked confused about. When he avoided her a bit too obviously, she discreetly kicked him in the shin under the table, and thankfully he got the message. By the time they made their way to the campfire, he and Annabeth were joint at the hip again.

  
She saw Mitchell and Will chatting, and gave him a wink. Will always lead the sing-a-long, so he must really like Mitch if he missed out on it. She had to tell two of her brothers to quit it when they started making bets of who would make the first move.

  
After, she kissed Jason good-night on the cheek outside her cabin, noticing that she hadn't kissed him on the lips all day. She was scared she'd taste salty or something. Jason hadn't commented on it so it was okay.

  
She called lights-out at ten, then lay awake for ages, despite not getting much sleep the night before. She cried silently again, until she finally fell asleep.

  
Considering what happened the night before, she wasn't too shocked to have a dream-vision of her mum.


	3. The Dream and Back To Normal?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper's dream and things settle down again... Or do they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I just want to say that I'm gonna aim to update every weekend, but if I have time during the week I'll update then too! :)

**CHAPTER TWO**

 

_Aphrodite looked gorgeous, as usual. One minute she had long auburn hair and blue eyes, the next she had curly black hair and hazel eyes. She was sitting at a small white table, reading one of the Twilight books._

_  
"Piper! My darling! Took you long enough to fall asleep! I was about to ask Hypnos for some help! Do sit down." She gestured to the seat_ _opposite her._

_  
Piper sat down with as much grace she could muster wearing a Hello-Kitty vest top and Cherokee pyjama bottoms._

_  
"Now, I think we both know why you're here, don't we?"_

_  
Piper could only nod._

  
_"I almost had a heart attack when I found out! It wasn't supposed to happen! Even the Fates didn't foresee it! I am so mad at Dionysus right now. I've made sure no mortal will want him for the next fifty years!"_

_  
"So you had no say in it?" Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to blame her mum._

_  
"Of course not! You and Jason are so sweet! And Percy and Annabeth are perfect for each other! I know I said I'd make things interesting for them, but not this interesting! It's like one of those soap opera's Zeus likes!"_

_  
"What am I going to do, mum? I don't want to lose Jason!"_

  
_Aphrodite gave her a sad look._

_"Don't push Jason away, honey. Be good to him, it'll pay off, I promise."_

_  
"I feel like I should make up for it, but I don't know how to without telling everyone what happened."_

_  
"Hmmmm." Aphrodite tilted her head, "make friends with Hade's son. He's been through a lot for love, I kind of feel bad."_

_  
Bit of a strange request, but oh_ _well. "Of course I'll be friends with Nico, if he lets me. It's the least I can do. Thank you for not being angry with me. Do the other gods know?"_

_  
"No. Well, the Fates do, and Dionysus. Luckily Poseidon and Zeus don't, it may cause another war!"_

_  
The thought scared her, so she decided not to think about it._

_"Thanks, mum."_

  
_"One last thing," Aphrodite held up the book she was holding. "Never read this book: it demoralises love."_

_  
Piper gave her a look. "Sure."_

_  
Aphrodite gave her one last smile, then everything went black._

•••

When Piper woke up, she felt as though a weight had been taken off her shoulders. For the first time, she was glad to be a daughter of Aphrodite. Her mum wasn't all bad.

  
It was a Saturday, so it was a day off from training. Most of her cabin was still in la-la land, catching up on their 'beauty sleep'. The idea of having a lie in appealed a lot to her, but she had a mission. She would be Nico's friend if it kills her.

  
She went into the bathroom, knocking to make sure it was empty, then washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair. She plaited her hair over her left shoulder: opposite to the shaved side. It wasn't her time to shower, her's was in the evening. She doubted the rightful camper would be up for it, but she didn't want to be rude.

  
She pulled her pyjamas off and put on a sports bra and yellow knickers. She sprayed her lemon-smelling deodorant on her underarms, then put on a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt three sizes too big, and pale blues short-shorts that contrasted with her dark legs.

  
She shoved on her trainers, tied Katoptris to her belt, then left the perfumed cabin.

  
The Mess Hall was almost empty, but as she had guessed, Nico was there, munching on a pomegranate.

  
She got four pancakes and syrup, but she threw two of them to her mum. She smiled at Hestia, then walked over to the Hades table and sat down next to Nico.

  
"You're not allowed to sit there."

  
"Does it look like I give a shit?"

  
Nico shrugged, then sipped his apple juice.

  
"What are you doing today?" She asked lightly.

  
"Why do you care?" Pleasant, isn't he?

  
"'Cos I don't have anything planned. Wanna hang with me?"

  
He gave her a look. "Why would you want to do that?"

  
"Because I realised you don't get nearly as much credit as you should, and you seem pretty cool, just misunderstood."

  
He snorts. "Yep, that's me. Misunderstood."

  
"Penny McConnel, move before I have to tell you off for breaking any more rules."

  
Piper stiffened. Shit. Mr. D knew. _Play it cool, Piper, you got this._

  
She smiled sweetly. "Mr. D! What a surprise to see you awake this early! I don't remember breaking any rules! And I was just leaving. I'll meet you by the basketball courts, Nico, in ten minutes?"

  
He glanced back and forth between her and Mr. D. "No."

  
"Careful, Pansy. I'm only up now because your mother kept me up all night with her awful ranting. Now begone before I crush you into wine. A substance you seem to enjoy so much."

  
Her eye twitched, but she didn't say anything. He was a god. There's nothing she could do.

  
She sighed, waved at Nico and walked away, despite only finishing one pancake.

  
Nico didn't turn up at the courts. That just motivated her more.

•••

Over the next week, everything went back to normal. She spent most of her time with Jason and trying to talk to Nico. He was almost scared of her, always trying to make excuses to get out of spending time with her. It kind of hurt, but she was a big girl. Percy and Annabeth weren't seen separately.

One day off, about two weeks later, most of the seven and their friends were having a water fight in the lake. Percy was dominating all of them.

_Funny, I remember him being much more submissive and..._ OMGS BRAIN NO.

Her and Nico sat out. He said he didn't like the water, which could be true, considering his dad, but Piper suspected it was more to do with shyness. Piper herself had wanted to chat with Nico, still intent on being his friend. She also felt a little lethargic. Yes, Annabeth had taught her that word.

Nico was tugging at the grass by his feet. Not as much died anymore when he was around, she noticed. And he was looking healthier. The bags under his eyes weren't as big, hints of his skin's original olive colour were coming back. He had had a growth spurt, so he was taller than Piper, and he filled into his clothes a bit more.

She was trying and failing to start a conversation. She soon ran out of good topics.

"Ugh! Guess what? I walked in on Mitch and Will making out ON MY BED! Can you believe that? I mean, keep it on your own bed!"

  
He frowned. "Wait. What?"

  
She grinned: he answerd her!

"Will and Mitchell were sucking face on my bed. I have to sleep there! That is my brother! They need to learn privacy!"

  
"So you don't care that it's two boys?"

  
"No! Of course not! Why would you think that?"

  
He gapped. "But- but don't you think it's wrong?"

  
"No! Greece was the birthplace of homosexuality! My mother is the Goddess of Love, I don't care which type of it!"

Then she remembered something.

"Wait. You're from the nineteen-thirties, right?"

  
He nodded.

  
"Oh, Nico. I know that where you're from homosexuals were viewed as wrong, and that's not your fault, but these days people don't care as much. And if they do, they are the ones that get ridiculed."

  
He blinked at her. Once. Twice. Then he got up and practically ran away.

She sighed, then turned back to the others, just in time to see Annabeth dunk Percy into the lake.

•••

When Piper skipped her period, she didn't think much of it. Lie.

She managed to delay her worrying for three days, before it was certain it wasn't happening.

She had never considered there'd be further consequences to her and Percy's actions, but now it scared her.

She had had a restless night, her mind constantly battling with itself, trying to find logical explanations.

There weren't many.

The next day, she snuck down to the camp store. She remebered having to help clean it out after one of her and Leo's mini food-fights turned into a full-scale war; every man for himself. Leo had refused to clean out the section used for 'womanly monstrosities', according to him. Among the boxes of pads and tampons, she found a unopened box of pregnancy tests.

Her thoughts at the time were 'what idiots would have sex without protection, Coach Hedge made sure all cabins had a pack of condoms each'. She was could now be eating those thoughts back, but oh well.

Making sure no-one was looking, she grabbed three tests from the box. She was literary going to triple-check to make sure.

She stuffed them into the pocket of her hoodie, keeping her hands wrapped round them.She walked briskly back to her cabin, aware she was missing canoeing.

She went straight to the bathroom, grabbing a litre-bottle of water as she went. She then chugged it all, and proceeded to do what she had to do to get the tests to work.

The wait was torture. Her ADHD went haywire. She forced herself not to look at the three tests until the time was up. When she did, it was through the gaps in her fingers.

Every single one read positive.

Piper fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to everyone that likes Twilight: that's just my opinion!


	4. Well shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper tries to find a way out of the mess she's in, and Nico's powers are useful in ways he didn't know before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope everything's okay with you. I honestly can't think of anything else to say so...

**Chapter I Can't Remember Sorry**

 

Piper was probably only unconscious for about five seconds.

The first thought to come into her head as she blinked slowly at the ceiling of the bathroom was: I really shouldn't be falling over in this condition.

The next was: HOLY SHIT I'M PREGNANT.

It was even worse than waking up that morning about a month ago, because she could hardly ignore a fucking baby growing in her fucking body.

Piper had never really been that ADHD, but it seemed that it was making up for lost time. She shoved the tests into the bottom of  the bin, before sprinting to the Big House. She hadn't started crying yet, but she could feel tears creeping up on her.

Chiron was right where she expected him to be. He was in his wheel-chair, doing some paperwork on the wooden porch of the house. Piper spared a moment to wonder what possibly needed paperwork at Camp Half-Blood, before getting back to the main problem right now.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she gasped "I need to talk to you."

Chiron frowned, but put his pen down. He gestured to an empty chair opposite him, "sit, child."

Piper slumped onto the chair.

"I need to go on a quest."

Chiron frowned even more.

"Why?"

"'cos I do."

"Where?"

"New York City would be great, thanks."

"Okay, but again, why? I need to know to give you permission."

Piper sighed, tugging at her hair.

"Swear upon the river Styx you won't tell."

Chiron looked hesitant, but he swore anyway.

"I- I need-" Gods, this was embarrassing, "I need to go to an abortion clinic."

Chiron's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he regained his composure quickly, "I'm sorry, my dear, I really am, but abortion's don't work on demigods."

"What?"

"The godly blood in your veins prevents it, and I'll assume the father is a demigod also?"

She gave a small nod.

"There is nothing you can do to stop the pregnancy, Piper. You are going to have to carry the child until it is born, what happens after is up to you. May I suggest you tell Jason?"

Piper flinched. 

"Why would I do that?!"

Chiron seemed dumbfounded by her reaction. Shit. He thought the kid was his.

"He is the father, is he not? He has the right to know."

"He's not." She whispered, hating herself.

Chiron made the very wise decision not to comment on that.

"None the less, people will notice by themselves in a few months. Your friends deserve to know."

Piper nodded absentmindedly. The shock of today's events was catching up with her. She was pregnant. She was pregnant and there was nothing she could do about it. Jason was going to find out whether she wanted him to or not. He was going to hate her. She didn't deserve him. Annabeth would kill her. She had betrayed her best friend. Everybody would know what a horrible person she was and Percy would feel bad and the gods would most likely get piss-y and she was now having a full-out panic attack and she hadn't even realised.

"Piper! Piper! Piper calm down. Everything is fine. It's going to be okay. Just _breathe_."

Chiron's authoritative voice was pushing through the confusion, and she found her breathes becoming a bit longer. She's pretty sure she just sat there breathing for about ten minutes. 

When she found her voice again, she said "thanks, Chiron. I think I'm going to go for a walk."

He smiled sympathetically, "of course, child. You are excused from the rest of your classes today."

She nodded, then walked back down the steps and onto the dusty path. She didn't really know where she was going, but she found herself not caring.

She eventually found herself outside Bunker 9. Leo would be working, but she really just wanted to talk to him about nothing and laugh at his bad jokes. Then she could pretend everything was all going well in her increasingly more pitiful life.

All of the Hephaestus cabin were working on small projects, individually or in small groups.

She asked little Harley where Leo was, and the kid just gestured to a large burner in the corner of the bunker. Leo was currently half in it, doing Zeus's knows what, not being hurt in the slightest.

"Hey, Leo."

Her voice cracked a little, but he didn't notice. He removed himself from the burner and took off his soot-stained goggles.

"Beauty Queen! Don't you have a class?"

"Nah. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?"

He grinned. "You don't even have to ask, Pipes. Let's go to the Supreme Commander's Office!"

Piper rolled her eyes. Leo had a small room off the side of the main room, and he had started calling it that the moment he filled it with his junk.

They made their way to it. Piper slumped down on a beaten sofa cramped in the corner, and Leo soon joined her, bearing gifts of a large packet of crisps and a litre bottle of orange Fanta. Great, Leo was going to be soooo hyper later.

They spent the day talking about useless shit, ignoring their duties as Head Counsellors, and generally having a good time. Leo eventually had to get back to work, and Piper found herself hugging him to hard and holding on for too long.

"Uhh, Piper?"

"Mnph?"

"You can let go now."

She didn't.

"You'll always be my best friend, right?" She asked out of the blue.

"What-? Of course I'll always be best friend. Are you okay?"

"I just realised I couldn't stand to lose you. For you to hate me. Promise you'll never hate me?"

"For goodness' sake, Pipes. I could never hate you. I promise. Are you sure you're okay?"

She didn't answer. She turned and ran out of the room and the Bunker. Yet another person she didn't deserve.

She was now well and truly crying. She was crying so hard she had to stop and curl up into a ball, because she may run into a tree and piss a Dryad off by accident.

She didn't know how long she sat there, but after a while, she heard someone sit down next to her.

"Crying helps, doesn't it?"

She looked up, shocked, blinking away tear. Nico di Angelo was sitting next to her, raising an eyebrow. She couldn't believe he was actually initiating conversation with her, so she remained quiet.

"I mean, it isn't very productive. And it makes you feel ashamed after. But it also gives you different look on things. Like: 'okay. I've cried and it sucks but there's no point for me to just mope around anymore. Shit happens, like they say.'"

Piper blinked at him, then leaned into him. She didn't really know why: Nico hated physical contact. But he understood she was sad and that asking lots of questions would annoy her. 

He tentatively wrapped his arms around her, and she wrapped hers around his waist. Nico knew all to well about crying and shit happening, she noticed. From experience, sadly. What with Bianca and falling into Tartarus _alone_ and being in that coma. He was so brave.

After a while, she muttered into his shoulder, "where are we?"

"The forest. Only on the outskirts, though. It was how I could find you so easily."

She frowned, even though he couldn't see it.

"You were looking for me?"

"Leo was really worried about something, he found me first and basically yelled at me to find you. It wasn't hard."

"Why not?"

"You have two life's about you, you know."

She groaned. 

"I know all too well."

"It's okay," he awkwardly patted her back, "I've been noticing it for just under a month now, I've only just figured out what it was."

"So that's why you were looking at me funny."

"Yes. And also because you look funny too."

She gasped. 

"Did Nico di Angelo make a _joke_?"

He smiled sheepishly. He should do that more often.

"The other'll be worried. It's almost dinner. We should go."

She nodded and stood up, offering Nico her hand. He took it and said:

"You really should tell Jason."

"Yeah, I've heard."

"He has a right to know."

"It's none of his business."

Nico frowned. "He's the dad."

She didn't answer, but instead started walking back to the Mess Hall. 

The rest of the walk was silent.


	5. The Goddess Of What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper and Nico go on a mini quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Piper skipped her period about two weeks after her and Percy had sex. It's half way through August right now in this fic. This is longer than I planned it to be, by the way.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 

 

Leo, Jason, Annabeth and Percy were discussing something frantically around the Zeus table.

Well, Leo, Jason and Annabeth were. Percy was just frowning off into space. And it didn't really count as 'around' the table if they were all standing.

Nico waved at them, catching Annabeth's eye. Her eyes flooded with relief, and she said something to everyone else.

Leo's head snapped in her direction. He grinned, then leaped over the table, knocking Jason out of the way. He sprinted at her and enveloped her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Pipes! You scared me there! Never get deep and emotional ever again! We were gonna go look for you!"

She laughed half-heartedly.

"Sorry. I guess my hormones were acting up." You could bloody well say that again.

He let go of her and gave her a fake scathing look.

"Piper, Piper." He tsk-ed. "You've told me many times that I make your period ten times worse. What on earth possessed you to spend the day with me?"

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't know where anyone else was. You're always working on some shit in Bunker Nine, and I fancied a walk."

Jason frowned.

"Didn't you have a class?"

"Nah. I had to talk to Chiron about something. I got the day off."

Annabeth's eyebrows rose.

"Really? He never lets anyone do that. Trust me, I've tried to get off plenty of chores by calling period cramps. Are you sure you're okay?"

Damn her and her smartness and her questions.

"Well, I may or may not have charmspeaked him a little. Who can know for sure?"

Annabeth sighed over-dramatically.

"Where did you find her, Nico?"

Percy spoke up. He had been silent before now. He usually was when she was around. Nico also had faded into the background like he does. Piper would have to keep an eye on that boy, seeing as he knew her deepest-darkest secret.

"Uh, just in the woods." Nico stared at the ground.

"Thanks for that, Nico." Jason smiled warmly. Jason had been extremely friendly to the son of Hades, and it had been confusing everyone else to no end.

Nico glared at him, then walked away.

"What got his knickers into a twist?" Leo wondered out loud.

They could only shrug, though Jason glanced at Percy as he did. Piper froze for a second. _Did he...?_ No. Of course not. How could he? It must have been an coincidence.

Leo soon made his excuses. Annabeth and Jason left quickly after too, leaving Piper with Percy alone for the first time since The Incident With The Wine. Piper was about to stutter something about needing to be some place when suddenly Percy said:

"Are you sure you're okay?"

The friendliness in his voice shocked her. 

"I- uh- yeah. 'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" She spluttered.

He gave her a look.

"No reason. I'm gonna go find Grover. I heard he was giving out free enchiladas! Take care."

He walked off. She sighed. That boy- man- was the father of her child. Perseus Jackson: Saviour and Hero of Olympus. That title was way too formal for that idiot.

She started walking in the direction that Jason went. To the Arena, she guessed.

She really needed to tell Jason about her... Issue. He was leaving for the end of the summer in two weeks. She wouldn't see him again until Christmas, where they were all going to New Rome to celebrate. Why, you ask, do Romans; the infamous haters and slayers of Christians celebrate one of their holidays? The only answer is that those guys love a reason to get together. Us Greeks weren't complaining.

She would have to tell Percy first, though. So he would know why Jason was trying to kill him when he inevitably found out.

And what about her dad? Would he kick her out? No. He wouldn't. But what about when the paparazzi found out? It would be big news for  Tristan McLean's daughter to get pregnant so young. She tugged at her hair, something that had become a habit of late.

On the subject of parents: what about the Gods? What would Poseidon think? Oh shit, Athena and Zeus will be pissed. Those were a bad duo to have against you. Power _and_ wisdom. Nasty.

"Ugh!" She yelled in frustration, kicking open the Arena door. She got a weird look from some young Hermes camper, but everyone else was too engrossed in the duel going on.

Jason and Clarisse were sparing. He and Percy had stopped sparing with each other since the third and last time the Arena got knocked down due to storms. The boys had had a hard time finding someone to fight against. Nico and Thalia could, as with Frank and Hazel, but none of them were at Camp often. Clarisse had been more than happy to 'kick some Roman butt', even though she spent time at Camp Jupiter during the year now. This was Clasrisse's last year at camp, she was going to join the army next month. Percy, Grover and Annabeth were actually pretty sad about it, even though the acted like they weren't. Anyway, Jason usually beat her, but she still gave him a run for his money.

Piper scanned the crowd for someone to sit next to. Travis and Conner stole were plotting something: nope. Hazel and Butch chatting animatedly about something that was most likely horses: she was close friends with Hazel, and didn't mind Butch, but nope. Ah, Frank, on Hazel's other side. Piper hadn't talked to him for a while.

"Hey." She whispered, not wanting disturb the fight.    

"Hi, Piper. Long time no see."

"Tell me about it. Who are you supporting? Sister or fellow Praetor?"

"Whoever's winning."

"And right now that is...?"

Frank frowned. "Clarisse. Jason isn't defending his left well enough."

"Ah."

They watched the match in silence for a bit, before she worked out a good way to phrase a question that was on her mind.

"Hey, Frank?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you- Do you think that everyone can be forgiven?"

"I guess it depends."

"Depends on what?"

"How bad the thing they did was, and if they were a good person or not."

"Say, a good person makes the worst mistake they could possibly make. Would you forgive them?"

He looked at her and scrunched his nose up. "I'd like to think I would, but my judgement may be clouded if I were angry about it. Why?"

"No reason. Thanks, though."

Clarisse won. Jason got a cut all along his left side. She kissed him anyways.

•••

 

Piper wasn't hungry at dinner. She kept thinking about how fat she would get.

She sacrificed all her meal to her mother, asking how the Hades everything mess up so badly.

Lacy was sitting on her left, loudly chatting about nothing. Ellen, on her right, was gushing about how beautiful Nico's big dark eyes were. Obviously, she zoned out on both of them.

Chiron stamped his hoof onto the ground, trying to get everyone's attention. It took the Apollo and Hermes cabins a bit longer than the others, and her table a whole minuite later. Embarrasing, right?

"Hello campers. We will be playing capture the flag on Friday evening, two days from now. Make your teams wisely. Also, Piper, about what we discussed. I have a little quest lined up for you, a favour for your mother. We need to arrange it. Would you like anyone to accompany you?"

He gave her a look. She was confused as to what he was implying at, but she decided she didn't want to go alone.

"Uh, sure. If Nico wants to?"

Nico looked at her with wide eyes, shaking his head. She gave him puppy eyes, and eventually he sighed.

"Fine. Whatever."

"Good. Now, I believe there are marshmallows that need to be eaten. Off you go."

Everone stood up in a rush. Some people tried to ask her what her quest was about, but she ignored them. She and Chiron made their way to the Hades table, since Nico made no effort to move.

"What's this about, Chiron?" She asked.

He glanced at Nico. "I presume Mr di Angelo knows?"

She nodded.

"Well, your mother has asked if you could go see someone about your problem. Your mother knows someone who specialises in God and demigod pregnancies. Do you two want to go tomorrow?"

"Okay." She said.

"I still don't see why I have to go." Nico said.

"Moral support."

"Get Jason to go with you!"

She flinched. "He doesn't know."

"No time like the present."

They glared at each other, until he inevitably won.

"It's not his, Nico. I know. I'm a terrible person. Will you still go with me?"

He gapped at her. "W- what?!"

She looked at the ground.

"You can't expect me to keep that from Jason! He's been so nice to me!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Piper! You cheated on him! He's my best friend! Was it Leo?"

"What?"

"Leo. The guy you cheated on him with."

"No! Of course not!"

"Then who...?" His face suddenly went slack. "Percy."

"You can't tell anyone, Nico, please."

He shook his head. "I can't."

"Nico. Please." She started crying like the wimp she was.

He looked pained. "One week. I'll keep quiet for one week. Then you have to tell him. And Annabeth. And your parents. And everybody. One week. I'll meet you here tomorrow at eight." 

He shadow-traveled away to gods know where.

She slumped down onto the bench.

"That's settled then. We shall meet up then. Good night, Piper."

Chiron, who has been quiet for the most part, left.

She sighed. Why did her secret keeper and only demigod go-to in this situation have to be so gods-damned reasonable to his friends?

•••

Later that evening, Jason asked her what the quest was for. She told him it was a secret only she and Nico knew. Wasn't really a lie.

When she kissed him goodnight, he deepened it further. Soon, they were full-out snogging against the Zeus cabin door. He reached behind him to open it, and they stumbled in and fell onto the bed, her straddling his lap. He was taller and more muscled than Percy, and his hands were bigger. They were currently making their way down her back in a way she loved. It was all feeling great and going good when suddenly his tongue flicked in her mouth _just like Percy's had done,_ and she was hit with deja vu and it all felt wrong and she felt so guilty.

She jerked her head back and panted for breath.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I can't." She gasped.

"No, no, it's fine. I understand if you aren't ready for that. It'a just, you looked so beautiful in the moonlight and I got a bit carried away."

He was blushing. He was embarrassed. _He_ felt bad. He was afraid she would think he was a needy jerk. _Gods_ he was perfect. He was so nice and honest and kind. He deserved so much better than her.

"Don't worry, my love," she pecked him on the lips before untangling herself from him, "I'm just not in 'the mood'. I'll see you tomorrow, Jace."

He smiled. "I'll be awake to see you off. I'm glad you're making friends with him, he needs and deserves more."

She smiled and left the cabin. She found herself not being able to get halfway to her cabin before the tears started to fall. 

Her mother didn't visit her that night.

•••

Piper wasn't in the best of moods that morning at eight o'clock. She had had a horrible nightmare which she wasn't even going to think about, it was that bad.

Nico was in all black. His jeans were ripped, and maybe a bit too small for him now. He was wearing that aviator jacket of his, despite the heat, with the sleeves rolled up. He was chatting with Jason, but not meeting his eye.

Annabeth and a half-asleep Percy were also there, but off to the side.  Frank, Hazel and Leo weren't to be seen, probably getting some sleep. She'd see them later, but that left no conversation open that she wanted to join. 

She was about to go say 'hi' to Jason, for lack of a less awkward option, when Annabeth beckoned her over. Damn it. She couldn't just ignore her friend outright. She waked over.

"Hi, what're you guys doing here?"

Annabeth grinned. "I was already awake, and I was curious to see what the big deal was with a _period."_

Piper blushed. "No, no. I went to Chiron asking for the day off, 'cos of my, er, period. Then he mentioned a favour for my mum, and I figured 'why not?'"

Percy scrunched his face up in confusion. "But why is Nico going with you? I didn't know you guys were friends."

She sighed. "We're not, but I want to be. Kid needs a break and all."

Annabeth and Percy both nodded earnestly. "Tell me about it." Percy said. He was getting chattier again with her. She didn't know if she was pleased or not.

Chiron called her over, so she gave Annabeth an awkward hug and Percy an awkward nod. Annabeth frowned at their lack of contact, but Piper left before she could ask her any questions.

Chiron was standing with Nico and Jason. Jason gave her a hug and kisses the top of her head. Nico scowled at her while this happened, and she bit her lip and looked away.

"Well, bye guys. Good luck, and look out for each other. See you later!" Jason went to chat with Annabeth and Percy, and she cringed internally for Percy.

"So; Nico, Piper, Argus is going to drive the two of you into New York City where you will meet Aphrodite. She will take it from there. You have your weapons? Yes? Good. Now get into the car, and stay out of trouble."

Ah, Chiron. Doesn't waste his words, does he?

Nico paled a bit. "We're meeting Aphrodite?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Most would consider it an honour."

He muttered something sourly under his breath, then climbed into the back seat of the car. Piper walked round to the other side and crawled in herself.

Argus didn't say anything, probably because of the romoured eye on his tongue. Nico wasn't providing much conversation either, so she just sat there staring out the window like some cliche. 

Argus dropped them off some time later outside a Starbucks. They said there thank you's before walking into the over-filled shop. Now all they had to do was find her mum. 

It wasn't hard.

She was sitting in a booth to the back of the shop, sipping a latte. She had shoulder-length dark brown curly hair and golden eyes. Her skin was tanned and clear. She was wearing a pale pink summer dress, and was getting a lot of looks from boys and girls. _  
_

She gestured for them to sit, so Piper slid in opposite her, with Nico following. He seemed completely uninterested in how Aphrodite's looks, and instead got straight to the point.

"What are we here for?"

Aphrodite smiled at him and said, "to meet a great-niece of mine. She lives upstairs whenever she is in the mortal world, which is quite often. It's much more busy down here. I believe she will be useful to Piper, considering her... Condition."

Piper staired at the table infront of her, noticing some spilled sugar that hadn't been cleared up.

"Who?" Nico asked.

"The goddess of- ah! Here she is!"

A motherly-looking woman with long brown hair and blue eyes sat down next to Aphrodite gave her a hug. The woman was wearing a light purple vest-top and a denim skirt the went to her knees. Her hair was tied back with a floral-print bandana. She had a few laughter-lines by her eyes, and looked to be in her mid-thirties.

"Hello, children. I am Eileithya, the goddeas of childbirth." 

Nico spluttered. "The goddess of _what_?"

She gave him a stern look. "Childbirth, my dear. Bringing new life into the world. I work as a midwife down here in New York."

"Ah. But I thought that Artemis was the goddess of childbirth?" Piper asked.

Eileithya pursed her lip. "Yes, there are other goddess' associated with childbirth, too. Like Artemis and Hera. Artemis was too busy to be here at such short notice, and Aphrodite figured you'd rather not spend more time with Hera than need be."

She gave her mum an approving nod. "Good thinking."

Aphrodite smirked. "I thought so too. And Eileithya can keep a secret. So, you're probably wondering why you're here?"

She nodded. Nico was staring out at the crowd of chatty teenagers buying over-prised drinks.

"Well, being the great, level-headed mother I am, upon learning of your pregnancy, I thought 'Aphy! Your daughter needs you in this dramatic affair she's gotten herself into! You must make her feel more confident in this probably scary situation, you wouldn't know, seeing as you can't remember the first time you got pregnant, but never mind! Let's get the Olympus phone book out!'"

Aphrodite grinned, and her eyes turned grass-green and her hair caramel.

Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and Nico excused himself to the toilet, hiding his smile.

"So, Piper, let's talk." Eileithya took control of the conversation. "You are four weeks pregnant, because you take it from the first day your last period."

Piper nodded. She didn't know that.

"Most mortal women wait until they're twelve weeks pregnant before going to the doctor's. You have managed to discover your pregnancy early, though, and your young. Your mother and I will be there for you every step of the way, don't be afraid to Iris-Message me."

She smiled gratefully and Nico joined them again.

"You should tell your friends as soon as possible. It will only get worse the longer you keep quite, and soon they will be able to tell anyways. You will probably start feeling sick in the mornings and thought the days in about two weeks. I think that is all for now?" Eileithyia glanced at Aphrodite, "I'll leave you with the political and social side of things. Good day." 

She kissed Aphrodite on the cheek, the Piper, the Nico, much to the last person's distaste. She then stood up, brushed herself off and left the shop.

"She's lovely." Piper said.

"I know!" Aphrodite clasped her hands together on her chest. "She's your cousin, Nico. Daughter of Zeus of Hera. I wouldn't aggravate her, despite her motherly nature. She forgot to mention she's also the goddes of labour pains."

Piper grimaced. She didn't like thinking that far ahead.

"What did she mean by the 'political and social' side of things?" Nico asked curiously.

Aphrodite sighed, and pushes a strand of her now ginger hair behind her ear. "You will anger a lot of gods with this. Most noticeably, Zeus and Athena. Athena has only just accepted Percy despite his father, now you both go and do this. Zeus will not have his son being made a fool of, especially by a child of his brother. While Athena may listen to the technicalities of the fact you were drunk, Zeus wouldn't hesitate. Poseidon probably only cares of the well-being of his favourite son."

Aphrodite, despite everything, was actually pretty smart. Well, maybe not smart, but wise. Comes with age and experience.

Piper tugged her hair. "What're we going to do?"

Aphrodite huffed rather unattractively. "It's not all bad. I'm on your side, and I can be very persuasive. I'll get Ares and Hepaestus on your team too. Hermes and the Twins like Percy. Poseidon obviously would be, as would Hestia, who's say is always taken to account, despite her not being an Olypian. Hera is a biggie against you though. She adores Jason, ironically. But I guess it's useful that Percy saved the world twice, and you once. But anyway! That stuff's bringing me down, and there is love to be loved!"

Aphrodite pointed to two teenaged girls of about eighteen. They had been laughing about something, but then suddenly they were kissing. Aphrodite squealed with joy.

Piper raised an eyebrow at her mother's antics. "Seriously? In public? Did they even like each other like that?"

"The taller one did. And love is to be shared and acknowledged by all. Am I right, Nico?"

Nico jumped. "I- uh- well- uh- I guess-"

Aphrodite tutted, her hair now blonde. "You guess, Nico di Angelo? I would like to talk to you alone. If you don't mind, Piper?"

Piper gave her mum a suspicious look, and Nico a sympathetic one.

She made her way out of the Starbucks and onto the street. The sun was beating down on her exposed skin, buy she wasn't worried about getting burnt. The perks of being Cherokee. She thought about what her mum and Eileithya had said. She was one month pregnant. In eight months, she was going to have a kid. Holy shit.

Some mortal tramp asked her for change. She felt bad, because all she had was a few drachma, which he wouldn't want.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any money on me."

The tramp grinned at her suprisingly playfully. "I know you're lying, but I understand you've been doing that a lot lately. Be warned: like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged. My sister and I would know. Just ponder that, if you wish."

Piper stared dumbfounded at the tramp, who she was now sure wasn't actually a hobo. She reached into her pocket and handed him two golden drachma.

He winked and disappeared into the crowd, just before Aphrodite and Nico walked out the shop. Nico was scowling, and Aphrodite was checking her makeup in a compact.

"Nico, I'm sure your impressive powers will be of use to you two to get back to Camp. Have a good day, children. I'm sure we'll talk again soon."

A white limousine pulled up on the curve infront of her, and she quickly stepped in before it zoomed off again.

Piper blinked. "Well."

Nico nodded. "Yeah. We gotta get moving, two demigods out on the streets, one of them a child of the big three. Monster'll have a field day."

"Wait." Piper said.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any mortal money on you?"

He frowned. "Twenty dollars. Why?"

She pointed to a McDonald's about two buildings away from them. "I'm hungry, and I think they still do breakfast. I wanna have some pancakes!"

His face softened in amusement. "Okay, but you gotta pay me back after."

"Deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing Apollo (the homeless guy) says at the end was stolen from Insurgent by Veronica Roth. This also may be a good time to point out that I don't own Percy Jackson, cos if I did, this wouldn't be 'fan' fiction!


	6. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper tells Percy her secret and nosy parents are a pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's read Blood of Olympus? I flipping loved it! I know that some elements in my story will now be wrong, but oh well.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

 

The next day was too hot to be pleasant.

Many of Piper's sisters resorted to short-shorts and crop tops, and Piper had to tell Drew to change shorts because 'I swear to the gods, they are smaller than my knickers!'

Piper, however, was self-conscious about her stomach. Of course she hadn't gotten bigger round their yet, but she found herself wearing a vest top instead.

Breakfast was spent swatting away flies ("Eww! Don't these things count as monsters?!" Drew complained), and re-doing ponytails to make sure no bits of hair fell down and cover her neck.

"Campers, please may I have your attention?" Chiron called. Piper held back a laugh at the centaur in a baseball cap and raybands. 

"I'm calling off activities today since it is too hot. I command you all to go have fun by the lake all day!" He grinned and was met by the whole camp's cheers.

All the campers rushed back to their respective cabins and got changed into beach wear. Piper found herself not having a swimsuit, and had to settle with a white bikini.

She pulled on one of Mitchell's muscle tops and wore it like a tunic. She shoved on some flip-flops before making her way to the Hades cabin. She hoped to find Hazel, but was met by Nico when she knocked.

"Hi." She smiled.

He gave her a small smile back, then said "Hazel's already left with Frank."

"Oh, well I guess I'll just have to go with you then, eh?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do I look like I have swimming trunks? Son of Hades and all?"

She shrugged. "Jason'll lend you some."

He snorted. "I highly doubt they would fit me."

She cocked her head to the side, examining him. "Hmmmm. You're about the size of my little brother, Harry."

Nico frowned. "Isn't that kid, like, twelve?"

"It's not my fault you don't eat shit."

He crossed his arms. "Anyway, no. I'm shy and all."

"Don't be. No-one will care. My sister, Ellen, drawls about you twenty four seven."

He shudded, "Ew."

That made Piper angry, "I'm sorry, is she not good enough for you? She's lovely and beautiful."

His eyes widened, "no! No! I have nothing against her personally. I'm sure she is very nice. And pretty. I just don't want a girlfriend."

"Good save. Now come on, Nico."

He huffed, but followed her back to her cabin. She looked round Harry's stuff, finally finding a pair of red trunks.

He scrunched up his nose. "Red?"

"We can't all cater for emo-goths."

He glared at her, but not enough to actually scare her, before grabbing them and trudging into the bathroom. She gathered a spare towel for him, along with some random pair of aviator sunglasses, which she found funny because of his jactet.

He joined her again, now wearing the trunks with a black vest top and converses. Not  exactly  normal beach-wear, but oh well.

"Leave your stuff on my bed," she said, gesturing towards it. He did, then she passed him the towel and glasses. He put the latter on, and they left to the beach in silence.

"So... You're gonna tell him today?" He asked after a bit.

She sighed, "yeah."

Nico nodded, "good luck."

"Thank you."

When they got to the beach, Jason and Leo waved them over.

"Hey, Pipes, you look great," Jason kissed her cheek. "Hi, Nico."

Nico gave him a half smile, "hi Jason. Leo."

Leo grinned at them, "so, who's going in?"

"Me!" Percy and Annabeth joined their conversation. Percy was only wearing blue trunks, and Annabeth was wearing a grey costume, her golden curls tied back.

"Me!" Piper and Jason smiled.

They all turned to look at Nico.

"C'mon, Nico. Frank and Hazel are already splashing about, you'd complete the group." Percy grinned.

"Yeah!" Jason agreed.

Nico frowned. "Fine. But not deep."

Piper and Annabeth let out a 'whoop!'

"Race you!" Leo yelled, then he, Jason and Percy sprinted to the lake.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and followed them.

Piper awkwardly pulled Mitchell's top off, then looked at Nico. "You too."

He scowled, then removed his baggy vest top. Piper was surprised to see how well-defined his muscles were, and at how pale he was. He wasn't that underweight anymore though, just lean. He had lots of scars across his chest and back, she noticed, but decided against asking about them.

They walked over to the water's edge. She stepped in, happy to find that it wasn't that cold. She grabbed Nico's arm and dragged him over to the others.

"So," she grinned. "Let the fun times commence!"

•••

The 'fun times' lasted all the way until lunch. Most of the time they were having water fights, complaining at Percy for his advantage over them in the aformentioned fights, seeing who could hold their breath for the longest (Percy and Frank were exculded from that, seeing as Frank kept on turning into a goldfish), ridding hippocampi, daring each other to do stupid things (Frank had to turn into a shark and scare Clarisse, Leo had to twerk, Percy had to get into a fight with the naiad's and ended up with a black eye, and Piper had to charmspeak Annabeth to repeat what she said: 'I smell.' 'Yes, you do.' 'God's damn it!')

Piper was sunbathing next to Jason, eating a cheese sandwich and listening to Annabeth tell a story of when Percy got turned into a guinea pig in the sea of monsters. They all laughed at her description of him as a rodent.

"That was were you met Hylla and Reyna, isn't it?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. Hey! If we didn't let loose those pirates, you guys wouldn't have your Preator!" Percy grinned.

"Oh yeah." Hazel said, frowning.

"That was on your quest for the Golden Fleece, right? To save camp and my sister?" Jason remembered.

"That's right! The Hunters are visiting at the end of the month, right?" Annabeth asked.

Piper still couldn't believe how much Percy and her had been through, how connected they were with the lives of other's around them.

"Joy." Nico muttered. 

"Come on, Nico, they help you out last year." Annabeth said.

"They helped _Reyna_ out last year, not me." He said, a challenging look in his eye.

"Hey now, hey now, calm down, guys. It doesn't matter whether or not you like the Hunters, but they are coming soon. Anyway, anyone else got any good stories? Man, I remember one time there was this crazy stalker who followed my dad around everywhere..." She continued the story, hoping to diffuse the tension in the air. Nico really needed to stop being so freaking defensive.

Jason caught her eye and sent her a silent _thank you_ with his eyes.

The conversation carried on well from there, with no awkward pauses or tense looks. After a while, Piper stood up.

"I'm going to go get some drinks and sun cream, you pale-skinned people are going red." By pale-skinned; she meant Jason, who's shoulders were going a fine shade of pink, Frank, who's nose was peeling already, and Percy, who's cheeks were red.

Annabeth was going very tan, but without burn. She was pretty sure her skin had darkened, as had Leo's and Hazel's.

"I'll help." Percy offered.

She blinked. "Fine. Cool."

Nico caught her eye and gave her a small nod. She knew that now would be the best time to tell him, without any chance of being over-heard.

Down in the dinning hall, bottles of water and sun cream had been put on tables. Percy grabbed a arm-full of still water, and she got two factor-50 sun cream's. 

"So, uh, Piper. I had a dream last night. Your mum told me to talk to you about... Y'know." He looked really awkward.

She scowled. Trust her mum to get involved like that. No backing down now.

"Uh, you see, uh..." She looked around to see if anyone else was around. "Ugh. Fuck, it's just that- I am- holy shit. I'm pregnant, Percy." She hisses the last part.

He dropped the water, " _what?!_ "

"Pregnant, Percy. With child. With _your_ child."

He made a strangled sound, "mine?"

She nodded. "Yours."

He took a shaky breath. Then another. And another.

"Shit." He said.

"That pretty much sums it up."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I honestly don't know."

"We fucked up."

"That we did."

"How long have you known?"

"Three days."

"Anyone else know?"

"Aphrodite. Chiron. Mr D. Nico."

He gave her a look, "why the fuck does Nico know?"

"He can sense life forces. He knew before I did. Hazel'll know soon if we don't tell her first."

He sighed, then kicked one of the water bottles. "This is going to sound jerky however I say it, so I'm just gonna ask: can't you get an abortion?"

She grimaced. "I already asked that. They don't work on demigod's cos of the godly blood."

He racked a hand through his messy hair, "I don't- I don't know what to say. Or do. I'm so sorry, Piper."

She bit her lip, "yeah, well, me too. Though, I doubt saying 'sorry' will stop shit going down."

He groaned, "Annabeth... Fuck, I love her. I love her so so much and then I have to go and... UGH!"

He stomper his foot, and all of the water bottles, including the ones on the table, exploded. 

Piper got soaked, as did Percy, and the whole dining hall. Oops.

"Hey, Percy. Percy!" He looked at her, "it's okay. It's going to be okay. We can sort this out. It's fine."

"Fine?" He croaked, "Fine! I'm going to be a dad! Aged eighteen! Holy shit! Mum's gonna kill me! Painfully! Oh, crap!"

She raised an eyebrow, "yeah, well, if I go anywhere with my dad later on when I'm fat and shit, the whole world is gonna know. Fun, right?"

He glanced at her (mostly) flat stomach. He rubbed his eyes, as if he was making sure she was real, then sighed. 

"Okay, okay. Let's just... Tell them later. Yeah. Definitely later. Like, after we're not within five miles of either of them. That's a good plan, yeah."

She crossed her arms, "that's a terrible plan. A cowardly plan. Seriously, let's just review that again."

He blew a piece of his fringe out of his eyes, "I tell Annabeth, you tell Jason?"

"That's more like it."

"And we do that... By the end of the week?"

"Deal. Nico said he'd only keep the secret from Jason for a few more days, anyways."

"Okay, okay. Let's, uh, take the cream to the others. Shit, the water. Oh well. Here: you're wet."

Suddenly, all the water drained off her body into a puddle on the floor. Percy just seemed to absorb the water on him.

"We'll just say we had a water fight and all the bottle's exploded." She suggested.

He nodded, and they made their way back to the others, who were chilling in the sun. Only Nico didn't believe that story.

•••

The next day wasn't so hot, so things were back to normal. Well, as normal as a camp full of teen demigods can get.

Piper was supposed to be learning about the labours of Heracles with the Athena cabin, but she already knew that story from research with her dad, and Annabeth knew it like the back of her hand, so they decided to sneak out.

Things weren't that bad around Annabeth anymore, but of course soon that would all change. She hoped to savour their friendship for as long as it lasts, which probably won't be that long.

"Can I ask your something?" Annabeth asked. They were sitting on some grass outside the 'classroom', tearing at the dry grass.

"Sure...?" Piper said.

"Did you and Percy fall out over something?"

Okay, McLean, keep it together. Yes, Percy and her has been avoiding each other out right now, but surely it can't have been _that_  obvious?

"No. What makes you say that?" Piper frowned, hopedully sounding convincing.

Annabeth shrugged, "it's just, you two don't talk as much as you did before. Or touch each other at all, I swear you used to have an obsession with messing up his hair even more than it already is. I don't know, Pipes. You sure you guys are fine?"

"Yeah, course we are. Don't worry, Annie, I'm not going to kill your boyfriend any time soon. Unless he makes fun of my toes again."

Annabeth laughed, and the subject was over.

•••

The day after that, Piper was thumb-wrestling with Hazel in the Hades cabin instead of going to the campfire. Yes, she was avoiding a certain somebody with black hair, but oh well.

"You know, something's different about you." Hazel said, and she tried to wriggle her thumb out from under Piper's.

"Oh yeah?" Oh shit.

"You seem really healthy, like, life wise. More present. More bold. I don't know why, though."

Hazel pursed her lips. Nico, who was sitting on his bed across the room, reading a book in Italian, snorted. She glared at him.

"Well, uh, that can only be good, then, uh..."

Hazel nodded, "I'm going to go say good night to Frank, okay? See you tomorrow!" 

Hazel hugged her, walkedover to Nico to kiss his cheek, then left.

Piper flopped onto Nico's bed face-down and groaned.

"I don't want to sound obnoxious, but I told you she'd notice, and you brought this upon yourself in the first place." Nico didn't look up from his book.

She groaned louder in responce.

"You're lucky Hazel's so innocent," he continued, "or she'd have known days ago."

"And you're not?" She said into the bed.

He scoffed, "first demigod to go to and get back from Tarturus alone here. You were saying?" Their was no humour in his voice.

She say up next to Nico, "you ever had to tell your deepest, darkest secret?"

He glared at his book, "yes."

Her question was supposed to be rhetorical. "How did you do it? Who did you tell?"

His shoulder's slumped. "Jason, actually. And I was bullied into it by a god, so I wouldn't look to me for advice."

She frowned, "when was this?"

"Last year."

"Ah." 'Last year' was commonly used as reference to the summer they were on their quest to save the world and shit. 

She was suprised when he continued.

"We ran into Cupid. In Croatia, looking for Diocletian's Sceptre."

She raised her eyebrows, "did you have to say you had a crush on or something?" Nico having a crush on Annabeth was old news, she wondered if he was about to formally admit to it now.

His right eye twitched, "something like that."

She put a hand on his shoulder, "you don't have to say if you don't want to."

He shook his head, "no, no, no. Jason's right. I need to start trusting and opening up and shit. Fuck. Okay, di Angelo, you can do this. Shit, no, I can't, nope. Sorry, Piper. All that build up for nothing. Can you leave please? Like, right now?"

Piper blinked. She was completely confused about what on Earth Nico was on about, but she figured she'd better leave before things got messy.

"That's fine, Nico, you don't have to tell me right now if that's what you want. Sweet dreams."

"Yeah." He said, and she left for her cabin.

•••

_Of course, Piper couldn't catch a break from nosy gods invading her lovely dreams about penguins riding cars._

_Percy's dad had never really stood out to her before. She'd only ever seen him about twice, and all she had registered was that he looked like Percy, then she turned her attention to her mum and her boyfriend's dad, the almighty god of the skies._

_Posiedon was sitting in a portable chair on a pier, fishing. It looked like they were somewhere in Florida, but she couldn't be sure. The stars were out, and the moon reflected on the sea beautifully._

_"Come sit." He said, not looking away from the ocean. He waved his hand, and another chair appeared for her. She sat down tentatively. She would have been embarrassed about her kind-of-skimpy vest top and pyjama shorts (hey, come on, it was hot), but Poseidon's Hawaiian top was so outrageous she didn't feel so awkward._

_"Lord Poseidon? If I may ask: why am I here?"_

_He raised an eyebrow at her, "smart girl like you, you'd think you'd know."_

_"The.. Uh... The-" she started._

_"Situation?" He supplied, humour in his eyes. "Sorry, but I'm contacting Percy right now as well, do you mind if we join him at Montauk Beach?"_

_"Um..."_

_Too late, suddenly she was somewhere completely different. It was a secluded beach, with some great surfing waves and a small cabin. Percy was sitting on the sand only in boxers, so Piper decided to focus on Poseidon again._

_"Anyway, children. So, what are you going to do?"_

_Poseidon sat down next to Percy, and she cautiously sat down opposite them. Gods, they looked so alike. Poseidon looked about fifteen years older, had broader shoulders, and had an 'old' aura around him, but that was the only diferences she saw._

_"Do about what?" Percy asked._

_"Piper's pregnancy, of course. A word of advice: tell that child of Athena you like so much soon."_

_"Love." Percy corrected._

_Poseidon sniffed, "well, if you insist. Are you going to keep the child?"_

_Piper spluttered, "well, uh, Sir, I hadn't really thought that far ahead. I haven't even started throwing up yet."_

_"I understand. I think you two should know that the gods know now: Aphrodite couldn't keep her gob shut."_

_"Now, now, Nephew, I don't think it happened just like that."_

_Piper turned her head, and there she was: Aphrodite. Her mum had obviously tried to look like Piper, but more smooth round the edges. Her hair was long and dark (and all the same length), her eyes were turquiose, and her skin coppery. She wore a golden tunic and leather sandals. Needless to say: she looked great._

_Poseidon smiled warmly at Aphrodite, "Ah, but whatever do you mean, dearest?"_

_Percy mimed throwing up behind him._

_"Only that you started the whole discussion, handsome." Her mum winked back._

_She joined in on the pseudo-vomiting._

_"If you two are quite done, what was this discussion you are talking about?" Percy cut in._

_"Well, we were having a little eldest Olympian's meeting, with me, Zeus, Hera, Posiedon and Demeter all having a catch up. We hadn't all been together alone in centuries! We had been talking about our children, of course, you adorable little things are forever changing, it's so exciting!" Aphrodite gushed._

_Percy scrunched up his face, "adorable little things?"_

_"Anyways," Poseidon carried on the story, "Hera was saying what 'ungrateful brats' you were, Zeus was trying not to boast about his kids, whatever they're called again, Thalia is the Hunter, right?"_

_Ppier rolled her eyes, "well, I doubt Artemis would let Jason in."_

_"And I happened to bring up how close you guys had gotten..." Aphrodite continued._

_"Hera made the connections straight away, Aphy really wasn't stuble." Poseidon cut her off._

_Aphrodite rolled her eyes, "I am the Queen of subtly. It's not my fault Hera is the goddess of Family."_

_Poseidon raised an eyebrow, and he looked so much like Percy it gave her vertigo. "Zeus, surprisingly, couldn't care less. He probably doesn't understand the concept of 'cheating'."_

_Even in her dream, lightning flashed in the sky. Percy snorted._

_"No shit. I mean, duh. I never said anything rude, Mam, please don't kill me?" Percy cringed away from Aphrodite, but she just smiled secretively._

_"Thank you for telling us, I was so worried." Piper said._

_"To be honest, so was I, sweetheart. I guess we didn't take into account that Zeus was a terrible father." Aphrodite smirked._

_Poseidon clapped his hands together, "children, it is almost dawn. We will have to go now. Percy, remember what I told you. Piper, good luck for the months ahead. Goodnight."_

_Piper and Percy nodded and thanked them, then she was waking up in her bed at Camp Half-Blood._

_•••_

Piper didn't tell Jason the next day. She had totally worked herself up for it, but when she got him alone, she backed out and kissed him instead. _  
_

Nico warned her that if she didn't tell him the next day he would. A selfish, cowardly part of her wanted to let him, give her the easier option of just hiding.

_No_ , she told herself, _you or Percy gotta do this. It's your mess, your business._

She sighed, then went back to slicing at her dummy.


	7. Sorry Guys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VVVVVV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VVVVVV

**Hey guys I'm sorry but I have decided to stop writing this fic. I wasn't passionate about it anymore so yeah. Anyway, you know the saying: there's plenty more fics in th sea!!:)**

 

 


End file.
